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MMM. Chapter 35: Health and Hospitalization, 1872 - 1942

Page 1

[CHAPTER 35]
[Page 1]
Health and Hospitalization, 1872 – 1942.
When the first attempt was made to establish a medical school for Negroes in New Orleans, there was no such institution within 500 miles of the city where a Negro was allowed to enter. Yet, there were probably 3,000,000 Negroes in that area who were in need of medical advice and attention. There was one physician to every 662 persons among the whites, while there was only one Negro physician to every 35,000 Negroes.
There were only a few Negro physicians to meet the demand for Negro medical service in the city. The death-rate among Negroes was nearly twice as high as that among whites. At this point the heads of New Orleans University, seeing the necessity for trained medical men among Negroes, made plans for the establishment of a school of medicine, a school of pharmacy, a school of dentistry, a school of nursing, and a free clinic and dispensary.
With the help of the Freedmen’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and through donations raised among themselves, the university authorities were determined to organize a medical school in New Orleans. They proposed to raise an endowment fund of $75,000, a fund of $200,000 for buildings and endowments, professorships with endowments of $10,000 each, and a deanship with an endowment of $25,000. To anyone making this endowment the institution offered him the privilege of having the proposed medical college named after him.

The unpublished manuscript "The Negro in Louisiana" is a work begun by the Dillard (University) Project in 1942, an arm of the WPA's Federal Writer's Project. After the dissolution of the unit, Marcus Christian maintained and edited the document in hopes of eventual publication. It is reproduced here as an annotated transcript, with original typos, chapters, and paginations preserved.

[CHAPTER 35]
[Page 1]
Health and Hospitalization, 1872 – 1942.
When the first attempt was made to establish a medical school for Negroes in New Orleans, there was no such institution within 500 miles of the city where a Negro was allowed to enter. Yet, there were probably 3,000,000 Negroes in that area who were in need of medical advice and attention. There was one physician to every 662 persons among the whites, while there was only one Negro physician to every 35,000 Negroes.
There were only a few Negro physicians to meet the demand for Negro medical service in the city. The death-rate among Negroes was nearly twice as high as that among whites. At this point the heads of New Orleans University, seeing the necessity for trained medical men among Negroes, made plans for the establishment of a school of medicine, a school of pharmacy, a school of dentistry, a school of nursing, and a free clinic and dispensary.
With the help of the Freedmen’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and through donations raised among themselves, the university authorities were determined to organize a medical school in New Orleans. They proposed to raise an endowment fund of $75,000, a fund of $200,000 for buildings and endowments, professorships with endowments of $10,000 each, and a deanship with an endowment of $25,000. To anyone making this endowment the institution offered him the privilege of having the proposed medical college named after him.